> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.luganodes.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.luganodes.com/rpc/quickstart.md).

# Quickstart

Create an app and send your first request in under five minutes

### Create your account

Sign up at [rpc.luganodes.com/sign-up](https://rpc.luganodes.com/sign-up). Your organization is created automatically on the Free plan, which includes 25 million compute units per month, 25 requests per second and up to 3 active apps. No payment method is required.

### Get your endpoint

Your first app is created for you at signup, enabled for all supported chains. Open it from the dashboard to view its endpoints. Each chain has its own URL with your API key included:

```
https://ethereum-mainnet.rpc.luganodes.com/v1/<API_KEY>
https://ethereum-beacon-mainnet.rpc.luganodes.com/v1/<API_KEY>
https://bitcoin-mainnet.rpc.luganodes.com/v1/<API_KEY>
https://tron-mainnet.rpc.luganodes.com/v1/<API_KEY>
```

The Ethereum Beacon endpoint requires Growth or above. The other three are available on every plan.

{% hint style="info" %}
Your API key is part of the endpoint URL, so treat the full URL as a secret. See [Security](/rpc/security.md) for key rotation and allowlists.
{% endhint %}

### Send your first request

You can test your endpoint directly from the dashboard using **Test your endpoint** on the app page, with no setup needed. To call it from your own machine, request the latest block from any chain. The examples below return the current block number or block count.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Ethereum" %}

```shellscript
curl https://ethereum-mainnet.rpc.luganodes.com/v1/<API_KEY> \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_blockNumber","params":[],"id":1}'
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Ethereum Beacon" %}

```shellscript
curl -s 'https://ethereum-beacon-mainnet.staging-rpc.luganodes.com/v1/<API_KEY>/eth/v1/beacon/genesis' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json'
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Bitcoin" %}

```shellscript
curl https://bitcoin-mainnet.rpc.luganodes.com/v1/<API_KEY> \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"1.0","method":"getblockcount","params":[],"id":1}'
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Tron" %}

```shellscript
curl https://tron-mainnet.rpc.luganodes.com/v1/<API_KEY> \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"eth_blockNumber","params":[],"id":1}'
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

Response

```
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":"0x1554a52"}
```

A block number in the result field means your endpoint is live. Since endpoints are standard JSON-RPC URLs, they work directly with libraries such as ethers.js, web3.js and viem.

### Track your usage

The [Statistics](/rpc/platform-guide/statistics-and-ai-insights.md) page shows requests, compute units, latency and errors for every app and chain. Each method call consumes compute units based on its weight, and your monthly allowance resets at the start of each billing cycle. [See how compute units work.](/rpc/compute-units/how-compute-units-work.md)

### Next steps

1. [How compute units work](/rpc/compute-units/how-compute-units-work.md): understand what each method costs
2. [Apps, endpoints and API keys](/rpc/platform-guide/apps-endpoints-and-api-keys.md): create more apps and configure key allowlists
3. [Alerts](/rpc/platform-guide/alerts.md): get notified before you reach your limits
4. [Rate limits and errors](/rpc/rate-limits-and-errors.md): error codes and handling 429 responses